Page 79 of Her Scandalous Pursuit

“Old who?” Desmond glanced around the stately room.

“The first duke.” Thisbe pointed to the portrait over the fireplace. “One of the ghosts Grandmother claims to talk to.”

Desmond studied the portrait. “If I were able to speak to spirits, I don’t think I’d choose him.”

Thisbe laughed. “Nor me. It’s cold in here, I’m afraid—we never use it. I’ll ring for Smeggars to lay a fire in here.”

“No need. I can do it.” Desmond squatted down by the enormous fireplace and began to arrange coals on the grate. “Do you suppose Gordon really went to his sister’s?”

“Does he even have one?”

“Yes, that much at least is true. She lives in Chelmsford. But it’s rather suspicious, don’t you think, that his sister should fall ill and require his presence at precisely the same time the Eye disappears?”

“Very much so. However, it doesn’t mean that he didn’t go to visit her. This would be a good time for him to get out of the city. Or he could hide the thing at his sister’s and return, so that any search of his rooms would turn up nothing.”

“Unfortunately, he could also have hidden the Eye anywhere in the city,” Desmond pointed out as he lit the fire.

There was the sound of footsteps and male voices in the hall. Theo and Reed. Thisbe sighed and turned toward the door just as Theo poked his head into the room. “I say, Thiz, why are you in here?” His gaze went past her to Desmond, still crouched by the fireplace, and he scowled. “What the devil is he doing here?”

DESMOND SUPPRESSED A sigh and rose to his feet. He wasn’t looking forward to more bruises from Thisbe’s brother. Desmond had always been able to hold his own with the lads in the village, but Theo Moreland was another matter altogether. Not only was Theo apparently some sort of school champion in the “gentlemanly art” of boxing, but Desmond also couldn’t help but feel that the other man was on the right side of the matter. Besides, Desmond was already on thin ice with Thisbe, especially after grabbing and kissing her last night. Hitting her beloved twin was certainly no way to mend things. As if Theo weren’t bad enough, Thisbe’s other brother came up behind Theo.

“Theo.” Thisbe rose to her feet. “Don’t you dare start a brawl in here.”

“I won’t.” Theo strode into the room, Reed following. “I plan to haul him outside.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Don’t be so primitive. Reed...control him.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Reed commented, but he gripped his brother’s arm. “She’s right, Theo. You’ll bring Mother and Grandmother down on your head if you don’t watch out.”

“Oh, leave off. I’m not going to hit him,” Theo said in disgust and jerked his arm from Reed’s grasp, turning to Thisbe. “But I cannot fathom why you would take up with this scoundrel again.”

“I am not ‘taking up’ with him again. I am trying to recover Grandmother’s possession.”

Desmond noticed Thisbe didn’t dispute that he was a scoundrel.

“Which he stole,” Theo reminded her. “It’s a damned stupid thing, anyway. Annie’s blue eye? What the devil’s that?”

“Annie Blue’s Eye,” Thisbe corrected. “It’s part of a legend, and it may be stupid, but you know how Grandmother feels about it. Besides, I don’t believe Desmond took it. We’re trying to figure out who did and how to get it back.”

“What legend?” Theo asked.

“Who stole it?” Reed queried. Her brothers sat down, their suspicious expressions turning to interest.

“Desmond, you tell them,” Thisbe said. “You know it much better than I.”

Desmond launched into his tale, certain that Thisbe’s brothers would scoff at the story of Anne Ballew and the instrument she invented, but they listened intently. Clearly, any Moreland found it difficult to pass up a mystery.

When Desmond finished, Reed said, “Your tutor sounds a bit off his head to me, but I’d put my money on the patron taking this Eye.”

“Why is this Wallace fellow so obsessed with the thing, anyway?” Theo asked. “I understand that your professor thinks he’ll win back his tattered reputation, but what does Wallace have to gain from it?”

“Fame, I suppose,” Thisbe offered. “Maybe some acceptance in scientific circles.”

Theo looked skeptical. “Sponsoring their experiments is enough to make him popular with scientists. He must want something more than that if he’s willing to steal an object from a duke’s house.”

“I believed he was eager to move up the social ladder,” Thisbe said. “But now I see that his interest in meeting Grandmother may have been due only to the Eye.”

“He’d like to enter a more exclusive circle,” Desmond agreed. “But he’s been fascinated by the spiritual world since his wife died. I think that’s why he’s looking for the Eye.”